Trees at Bowesfield

The Banks Group, a property development company has been working closely with the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust to bring about an ambitious programme of habitat creation and conservation on the banks of the River Tees.

The Banks Group, a property development company has been working closely with the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust to bring about an ambitious programme of habitat creation and conservation on the banks of the River Tees.

Work on the new wildlife reserve, which is now well underway, is linked to an extension of the Preston Farm industrial estate which will create hundreds of jobs for Stockton, but it is the mix of reed fen, woodland and ponds next to the river that has led to the involvement of the Wildlife Trust.

In the last weeks of March over a thousand trees have been planted on the site by volunteers and trainees.

These represent just a quarter of the trees which will eventually be planted at Bowesfield and it was the intention to gets these into the ground at this early stage in order that they will be established and growing as the development proceeds.

A surprising number of people braved March's harsh weather to plant the trees.

They came from SHAPE Training, Stockton Youth Services, Stockton Young Offenders and the Wildlife Trust's Tuesday and Thursday Volunteer Teams.

The trees, which included oak, ash, birch and willow, were each provided with a protective tube, because despite its urban location, there is plenty of evidence of deer visiting the site and they are very partial to succulent young saplings.

The involvement of training and employment schemes has been planned into works at Bowesfield so as to ensure that local people benefit from the development of the site as well as from the jobs that will come from the business park itself.

In this way the project will add to the continuing social and environmental regeneration of Stockton.

Excavations for the major new wetlands at Bowesfield began last October, as reported in Green Bits 53.

Within two weeks of the bulldozers leaving the site over 360 golden plover had arrived to roost and feed on the new habitats.